July 30, 2008
John Gallant, Network World, Inc. – Welcome to the Brave New World of Networking
Paul Gillin, Paul Gillin Communications – A Mobile Game-Changer
Paul Desmond, Paul Desmond Editorial Services – How to Write White Papers that Resonate
Elyse Tager, Elymedia, LLC – Privacy and Behavioral Targeting — The Issue Heats Up
Ann Roskey , Accela Communications – Video Testimonials: Taking Advantage of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Doug Chandler, IDC – What's Happening in the Online Storage Market?
Welcome to the Brave New World of Networking
John Gallant, CEO, Network World, Inc.
For years, the network infrastructure market has been something of a tech industry anomaly – but could there be a big shakeup in the works?
Usually, after a couple of years of intense innovation and investment leading up to product and company launches, a tech market goes through a shakeup and we wind up with a strong market leader and a couple of three second-tier players. In the Darwinian nature of the business, some of the startups die outright and some are swallowed up by bigger fish. A couple companies survive to live in the most dangerous place of all – the middle ground between startup and market leader.
But the network infrastructure business hasn’t followed that script. Sure, a leader emerged – Cisco – with a vengeance. But, despite Cisco’s massive market share and the sway it has held over customers and industry thinking for years, a surprising number of independent infrastructure companies have lived on, holding tight to single digit market shares. 3Com, Enterasys, HP ProCurve, Foundry, Extreme and Adtran – to name a few.
Remarkably, given the challenges of competing with the proverbial 800-pound gorilla, the market has seen little consolidation. Why? Partly because of the high price tags each of these companies would have fetched, partly because of the tech integration challenges involved and partly because any particular pairing probably wouldn’t have created a customer base large enough to change the dynamics of the market.
But some new forces are changing the landscape.
For one, dramatic changes in the data center are leading to new demands from customers. As we heard from buyers in a recent roundtable, more and more companies are looking to build a single, powerful and flexible network infrastructure that can handle data center needs, including storage networking. Buyers are beginning to talk about the need for network virtualization – a network smart enough to handle any kind of traffic and provide the priority and services that traffic requires.
When customer needs change, the door is open for change in he vendor set. And vendors are responding.
Juniper Networks, which for years attacked Cisco on its flanks in the enterprise, has gone straight at the heart of Cisco’s kingdom with a new switch line that could change the competitive equation. The new switch is a powerful weapon, based on Network World’s exclusive testing of the gear, and a new Juniper CEO from up Redmond way seems poised to lead an aggressive assault. (See http://www.networkworld.com/reviews/2008/071408-test-juniper-switch.html )
Brocade, the market leader in fibre-channel storage-area networks, last week shelled out $3 billion to acquire Foundry – potentially creating a powerhouse that could deliver the unified data center network customers need. (See http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/072208-brocade-proposes-acquisition-foundry.html )
For its part, Enterasys this week teamed up with Siemens Enterprise Communications group to create a joint venture company combining their respective strengths in LAN infrastructure and unified communications – another top tech concern for buyers. (See http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/072908-siemens-enterasys.html?hpg1=bn) And HP ProCurve, which long operated with a strong sense of independence from the main body of HP, has been pulled more tightly into the orbit of CEO Mark Hurd, strengthening HP’s impressive arsenal of products and services.
All of this puts increasing pressure on the remaining companies to partner, acquire, be acquired and innovate. And all of this puts massive pressure on marketers to explain their visions of the new infrastructure world and their differentiators.
If you’re thinking this is only an issue for the companies involved, consider the shops into which you sell your products. How will the changes in the data center and the competitive landscape change their need for management tools, professional and managed services, security products and more? What opportunities and challenges would change create for you? Now’s the time to think through the ramifications.
Things are heating up. Expect more change to come.
JG
A Mobile Game-Changer
Paul Gillin, Social Media Consultant and Author of The New Influencers
Apple unveiled the iPhone Application List last week and boasted that it sold one million of the new 3G (third generation) devices in the product's first weekend on the market. More important than the sales figures is the coup that Apple has pulled off: The iPhone 3G looks to be the first mobile device to make the leap from telecommunications to data. That makes it the first mobile platform to merit serious attention from marketers.
The iPhone inspires a passion among its users that few technology products have ever achieved. Ask an iPhone user to tell you what he or she likes and you’ll get a 20-minute sermon, complete with demos. What strikes me is that most people tell me they use the iPhone more for data than for telephony. This is where the product is a game-changer.
The mobile Internet has been an unholy mess for several years. Each handset maker, network operator and service provider uses a slightly different technology. This pointless incompatibility has frustrated application developers so much that many have decided simply to wait out the market until consensus is reached. About the only standard anyone has been able to agree upon is Mobile Web, a hobbled subset of the World Wide Web standards that doesn't do anything particularly well.
Apple is bidding to change all that. The two big innovations in the iPhone are a usable http Web browser and sufficient local memory and storage to run applications on the device. This second feature is critical. Few people will choose to interact with their iPhone primarily through the browser, although they will browse to retrieve information. The beauty of native applications is that they can take full advantage of the iPhone’s speed and interface. When combined with a robust Internet back end, some truly interesting uses will develop.
The New Client/Server
In industry lingo, this setup is called client/server. Millions of people already take advantage of a mobile client/server architecture every day when they use their BlackBerries from Research in Motion. The BlackBerry’s e-mail interface is second to none, but an equally important usability factor is the device’s rapid performance. That’s because the BlackBerry downloads messages continually and displays them locally for rapid access. If the Blackberry’s performance was as slow as a Web e-mail program like Yahoo! Mail or Gmail, I suspect few people would bother with it.
Apple’s applications initiative is meant to give developers the means to build client/server applications on the iPhone. This can give users a fast, pleasant experience that’s optimized for the platform. Mobile Web doesn’t come close.
With an impressive list of more than 500 out-of-the-box iPhone applications and the capacity for developers to create really functional client/server programs, the iPhone stands to be the first truly mobile data device.
No cell phone maker I've seen has yet produced a meaningful competitor. Their origins are in voice, and most still don't get the data thing. Apple's early lead with mobile applications makes it the front runner in his new field.
Why you should care
Here's the opportunity for marketers. Facebook pioneered the idea of using applications as a means to sell products, but there are so many Facebook applications right now that it's almost impossible to break through the noise. The iPhone is currently an open field, and since people spend a lot more time away from their computers than in front of them, there's more potential for audience engagement. The audience may be smaller, but the prospect of getting them to actually use your service is greater.
Paul Gillin is a writer, speaker and content marketing consultant specializing in technology and new media. He has been a technology journalist for 25 years. His next book, Secrets of Social Media Marketing, will be published in the fall of 2008.
How to Write White Papers that Resonate
Paul Desmond, President, Paul Desmond Editorial Services
If you’ve been involved in producing white papers, then you know the job isn’t an easy one. You can picture what you want the paper to achieve, but pulling all the appropriate resources together to get the job done, and then getting all stakeholders to sign off, can be a frustrating, time-consuming task.
Too often, in the end, white papers fail to deliver on the original vision or achieve their primary function: educating readers. It may be that they miss the mark in terms of properly explaining the technology in question, use language that is too dry or obtuse, or suffer from an uninviting layout that fails to entice the reader.
If your paper suffers from any of these pitfalls, the result may be that potential prospects never read it. And that costs you money. Every time your white paper fails to capture a propect’s attention, you may well lose a promising lead — and an important piece of your marketing plan.
Below are some simple guidelines to help ensure your white papers stay on target, so you never suffer that fate.
Define your target reader. Are you trying to reach a business decision-maker or a technology decision-maker? It makes a difference in terms of the content and tone of the paper. And even within each realm, the tone may change, such as if you’re going after a CIO as opposed to a systems administrator.
Choose an appropriate topic. Try to resist the urge to tackle too much in one paper. Think about your target audience and what aspects of your product or service are most important to them, then go from there.
Offer content of value. If you expect anyone to read it, your paper must provide something of value to readers, which is essentially the insight and expertise of your company. You are positioning your organization, or perhaps a specific executive, as a thought leader on the topic in question. That can be accomplished in a number of ways, such as by using the paper to define a new class of product, explaining a technological evolution or simply exposing the status quo as no longer sufficient.
Create a visually compelling package. Probably you’ve opened a white paper, or other formal document, to find page after page of dense text. Chances are you didn’t read that document, or at least not very much of it. Similarly, no prospect has to read your white paper, so your job is to make them want to read it. An inviting layout goes a long way toward accomplishing that goal. The first step in that effort is to keep the length under control, so that readers don’t dismiss it out of hand because they don’t have the time to spend with it. Effective use of entry points such as charts and graphics, along with white space, can also help break up the dense text, making even a long paper less daunting. And there’s no replacement for a good, catchy title to entice readers in the first place.
Planning to get the job done. OK, so who’s going to do all this? Essentially, you’ve got two options: using in-house resources, or outsourcing some or all of the job. If you have people on staff who are willing and able to write effectively, the do-it-yourself approach is certainly a viable option. Before going this route, though, you may want to consider a few questions:
- Does the subject matter expert really have the time to give the paper the attention it warrants, or would his/her time be better spent on other endeavors?
- How will the writer react to potentially critical feedback from various reviewers?
- Will reviewers be comfortable offering honest feedback to the writer?
If handling all those chores in-house doesn’t sound appealing, or you and your in-house experts just don’t have the time, outsourcing the task may be the better option. The IT industry includes a healthy community of freelance writers, many of whom would be more than happy to take on your white paper project.
Just be sure the writer is someone who understands your target audience, the technology story that you’re trying to convey and the business value behind it all. That’s a winning combination.
Paul Desmond is president of the IT content creation company PDEdit and has 20 years of IT editorial experience. Learn more about writing white papers by downloading his free paper, “How to Write White Papers for an IT Audience,” at www.pdedit.com.
Privacy and Behavioral Targeting — The Issue Heats Up
Elyse Tager, Founder and Principal, Elymedia, LLC
These past few weeks have really been eventful for the Behavioral Targeting world and the issue of privacy. It seems that the more complex BT solutions become the more problematic. Once the ISP’s got into the behavioral targeting equation, concerns about privacy have leaped to an all time high.
A bit of background: At AdTech NY, NebuAd announced a new BT network that partnered with ISP’s. From their press release: “Through its unique technology, industry expertise, and Internet Service Provider (ISP) partnerships, NebuAd is leading the advertising industry to a new level of targeting effectiveness. Early traction in the network with ISPs, advertisers, and publishers, combined with NebuAd’s recent $30 million in total funding announcement, validate NebuAd’s potential to transform online advertising.”
NebuAd launched with all best intentions – attempting to address the issue of scale with their now huge network – a major disadvantage for BT in most cases. Plus, NebuAd has a robust privacy policy (ref: http://www.nebuad.com/privacy/privacy.php) addressing consumer concerns directly.
But this past week two of those ISP partners have backed out of the relationship. Charter Communications announced that it was withdrawing due to subscriber concerns, and CenturyTel is pulling out after the warnings from Congressmen Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, who said the technology "raises several red flags."
Now NebuAd, its competitors and the ISPs that would work with them, are facing new adversity in the form of a coalition of Internet groups that have joined forces to contest this new breed of comprehensive behavioral targeting. At least six advocacy groups, representing issues ranging from consumer privacy to media decentralization and Net neutrality have banded together to share information, conduct legal analysis, and meet with officials on Capitol Hill. (ref: http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3630062)
Some of the solutions being discussed by bloggers and columnists are “data portability” – allowing the consumer to be in charge of their own data by opting in (or not) to allow tracking of their behavior and/or profiles online. The consumer takes their data availability with them, so to speak.
Another solution that we have covered in earlier columns is predictive modeling to better target behavior. Companies such as ECerno, and Epic Advertising are using advanced algorithms and technologies that do not rely on cookies to establish inferred behavior – less intrusive and far more predictive of future behavior, according to these suppliers.
And at the end of the day, who should be the policeman? The Interactive Advertising Bureau says we should self-regulate. They are preparing to strengthen their self-regulatory function. As its CEO attends Congressional hearings and its Washington, D.C. office adds a new attorney, the IAB is determining how best to enforce standards for protecting consumer privacy and other guidelines. The group also aims to enlist a group of small publishers to maintain a presence at the state level. It's all part of an ongoing effort to ward off unwanted government regulation.
FTC has taken a position and made recommendations with their Proposed Online Behavioral Advertising Privacy Principles (ref: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/12/principles.shtm). From their website: “The purpose of this proposal is to encourage more meaningful and enforceable self-regulation to address the privacy concerns raised with respect to behavioral advertising. In developing the principles, FTC staff was mindful of the need to maintain vigorous competition in online advertising as well as the importance of accommodating the wide variety of business models that exist in this area,” according to its proposal “Behavioral Advertising: Moving the Discussion Forward to Possible Self-Regulatory Principles.” The proposal states that behavioral advertising provides benefits to consumers in the form of free content and personalized advertising but notes that this practice is largely invisible and unknown to consumers. But are these recommendations really addressing consumer needs as they relate to new practices and technologies?
There is already a thin line between a consumer's right to privacy and a publisher's desire to serve up only relevant advertising, but now that line is becoming even more hard to discern and define. As both the technology and the partnership arrangements get more complex, the privacy issue will continue to heat up in upcoming months.
About Elyse Tager
Elyse Tager is founder and principal of Elymedia, an online and traditional media agency that has worked with many of the world's most recognizable brands, from Microsoft to PowerBar. With 20 years of executive marketing experience in direct response and 10 years of Internet marketing experience, Elyse has gained a thorough understanding of both types of media and how they interact. This depth of experience and knowledge has benefited her clients as they strategize marketing objectives in both on- and offline worlds. Contact her at info@elymedia.com.
Video Testimonials: Taking Advantage of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Ann Roskey, VP of Marketing & Audience Development, Accela Communications
“In all these studies, word of mouth has more of an impact than traditional forms of advertising. Having a word-of-mouth marketing strategy is becoming essential for marketers.” Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer.
As the type and frequency of media bombards your target audience with more information than ever, word-of-mouth remains the most effective form of communications. According to the recent Nielsen study referenced above, 78% of consumers surveyed worldwide find that consumer opinions are the most effective form of media.* Clearly, word-of-mouth recommendation is the best there is, and an absolutely crucial marketing tactic for small and medium-sized enterprises with limited money to spend on communications.
Online video lends credibility
One way to accomplish an effective word-of-mouth strategy you can be comfortable with is to invite and videotape your best customers speaking on your behalf and then embed these video’s on your website. There’s nothing wrong with asking and more often than not, you’ll find that people are agreeable. Online video lends credibility to this type of communication because it is something that people can see and hear for themselves, and it is captured in an environment that you manage and can be a part of. I just completed this kind of project myself (see the video testimonials here) and was thrilled with the results…in fact I don’t think we could have created content of our own that is nearly as powerful.
So how do you get customers on camera? First, we’d recommend that you keep the testimonials brief, around 1 to 2 minutes (of finished, edited content) per person. Share this with your customer in advance when you ask them to participate — it goes a long way to alleviate concerns about how much of their time it may take or how much they might have to prepare. In most cases, our taping sessions were done in about 30 minutes. To get started, develop a series of 6 or 8 questions to ask the participant and give it to them ahead of time so they can consider their responses. In order to produce nice detailed comments, the questions should be relevant to their company and/or the experience they’ve had with your products or services. Vague responses will potentially come across as weak and less plausible.
Keep the taping informal and short
Keep the taping informal and although it may be tempting, don’t use a teleprompter! The former approach is more conducive to producing open and sincere comments that are authentic and believable. Once the content is captured, you can then edit the video to include the most succinct and compelling comments.
We created a similar program for ExactTarget and they captured their testimonials at a customer event they were hosting, to take advantage of everyone being in one place at the same time. You could also go on-location at a client office with a single camera and crew, or host an appreciation luncheon at a centrally located hotel and invite several participants to join you there. Other industry events could pose another opportunity to capture multiple testimonials at one time to save expense.
Keep the taping informal and short
Once you have created the media, you can re-use the assets to increase the ROI and cost effectiveness on your project by creating smaller standalone segments for multiple areas of your web site. For example, I identified specific comments that related to products and used these as standalone testimonials on various product pages. With some platforms, like AccelaCast, you can embed a video testimonial program in multiple channels or locations with just a snippet of code, so it is very easy to extend the scope of the project beyond the original goal.
Want to learn more about Video Testimonials? Contact us and we'd be happy to share our experiences.
Ann Roskey is VP of Marketing & Audience Development for Accela Communications, an interactive marketing firm that provides online video production, streaming media and data management services. Ann can be reached at ann_roskey@accelacommunications.com, or (508) 303-9704.
*Nielsen Global Study: Word-of-mouth the most powerful selling tool.
What's Happening in the Online Storage Market?
Doug Chandler, Research Director, Infrastructure Services, IDC
The online storage market continues to develop at a rapid pace. Earlier this month, Symantec quietly acquired its consumer online backup partner, SwapDrive, whose services Symantec had been OEMing for about two years under its Norton 360 consumer offering. This mirrors purchases made by EMC (Berkeley Data Systems) and HP (Opelin) last year, also in the consumer online backup space. In the meantime, new providers continue to enter the market: Bell Aliant, a Canadian telecom provider based in Halifax, recently announced an online file-backup/sharing service for its customers called Personal Vault.
From a macro perspective, the online storage or "storage-as-a-service" market is developing in three discernable areas: online backup, archiving and replication services, designed for businesses or consumers, that provide software functionality and hardware capacity in a SaaS model; "cloud storage" services like Amazon S3 or Nirvanix, which are focused on providing raw storage capacity for software development, service provision or other purposes; and storage that is offered as part of Web-based applications, such as photo storage/sharing sites (Yahoo's Flickr) or email services (Yahoo Mail or Gmail), for example. Within each of these categories are sub-categories and niche offerings, such as Wells Fargo Bank's vSafe online safe-deposit box.
But it is too early to declare these as established market segments. For example, many of the same OEMs that have acquired "baked" online storage services firms in the last 12 months are also investing in building their own "cloud"-like infrastructure platform. These platforms will not only allow them to scale out their own service offerings, and add new ones, but may be used to provide raw infrastructure (a la Amazon S3) to other players in the market, such as online storage start-ups.
The opportunity for Google, Apple or another player to enter and upset market dynamics continues to exist. In the meantime, we expect to see more investment in these services, in the form of acquisitions as well as infrastructure build-out and software development.
Related Research
Worldwide Online Backup Services 2007–2011 Forecast: A New Market Emerges
Doug Chandler
Dec 2007 - Doc # 209868 Market Analysis
Analyst Profile
Doug Chandler is research director for IDC's Infrastructure Services research group. Mr. Chandler provides insight and analysis for IT professionals, investors, resellers, distributors, ISVs, OEMs and services firms. He delivers forecasts and analyses on storage services segments including storage-related consulting, integration, management and support services. He also focuses closely on the managed storage and online storage services markets, as well as data center-focused professional services. In addition to his research responsibilities, Mr. Chandler provides custom research and consulting for IDC clients on industry trends, product and service offering requirements, and marketing strategies.